Wiring Cat5/6?

[Mibz]

If you're going to do the wiring anyway then you might as well go Cat6 because, like you said, it's a minimal extra cost. What most people in this thread are saying is that it's not worth upgrading existing wiring from Cat5 to Cat6.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Mibz
Yeah, I had big dreams to have an HDMI matrix in the basement, 2 cable boxes, 2 HTPCs and all my game systems down there with IR/RF receivers in each room going to everything. Just some straight ballin' shit.

But yeah, turns out being baller costs baller money. So I spent the $140 on an extra Shaw Portal and, when the time comes, I'll spend another $50 to turn one of my old PCs into another HTPC.

It's a lot cheaper now. You can get a HDMI matrix switcher in the $1000 range now (vs the $5000 Gefen unit that I got years ago).

By next week, I should have everything hidden, so all there is in my living room and bedroom is a floating TV (finally investing in a wall mount now that I got rid of the 70" RPTV). So clean.

[speedracer]

Signal degradation depends how you run cabling / cable management.

The oblivious in not running parallel with power (such as through a light ballast...).

The one that gets over looked is when you leave a huge spool of cable coiled up for the "maybe" I will move the cable here or there later. Don't do it. If you think of change - might as well add that line now.


IMO: cat5e would work for the most part. Save the money and invest in a good network core switch.

If you think you will live in the house for a long time it doesn't hurt to run cat6 but by then fibre would be more reasonable for home..... lol

[rage2]

Fibre won't happen. 15 years ago they outfitted homes saying fibre will be the new interconnect, something like $30k options. I doubt any of those homes have connected anything over fibre.

The future interconnect for homes is wireless. We're seeing gigabit wireless at CES this year already.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by speedracer
If you think you will live in the house for a long time it doesn't hurt to run cat6 but by then fibre would be more reasonable for home..... lol

I think your lot will worth more than your house by then.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by rage2

It's a lot cheaper now. You can get a HDMI matrix switcher in the $1000 range now (vs the $5000 Gefen unit that I got years ago).

That may be the case but cheaper doesn't mean cheap :P

[stealth]

OK.

One other question...

What is recommended?

UTP Solid
UTP Stranded
Plenum Solid
STP

I am a newb to this stuff.

[schocker]

Originally posted by rage2
The future interconnect for homes is wireless. We're seeing gigabit wireless at CES this year already.

How soon until we see these routers?
I was thinking of wiring my house in the summer with Cat 6 as powerline seems kind of iffy, but gigabit wireless would be so much simpler.

[rage2]

Look up 802.11ac. Apple is coming out with 'em this summer, iPhone 5 and iPad 3 supposedly will come with it standard.

Even though it promises theoretical gigabit speeds, you'll probably see closer to 250mbit real world.

[schocker]

Thanks. Sounds pretty awesome from what netgear has to say about it. Will definately give it a try.
Sidetrack:
Would this work with say a NAS or would that be a horrible idea and it should be wired to the router?

[benyl]

I don't care if they come out with 10G wireless. You can't beat the reliability of wired.

If you are going to run more cable and open up the walls, you might as well swap out the cat5 for cat6 IMO.

Going CAT6STP kinda future proofs you as it should be able to do 10G.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by benyl
I don't care if they come out with 10G wireless. You can't beat the reliability of wired.

If you are going to run more cable and open up the walls, you might as well swap out the cat5 for cat6 IMO.

Going CAT6STP kinda future proofs you as it should be able to do 10G.

QFTW!

I ran cat6 in my house(50s) to most rooms; better than wifi any time!

Wired is always better in my book!

[speedracer]

I think the bigger issue to solve is Wi-Fi Radio Interference.

Originally posted by rage2

The future interconnect for homes is wireless. We're seeing gigabit wireless at CES this year already.

[RecoilS14]

I do a lot of in home networks. Cat5e is Fine. If you can go cat6 then do it, Its a minimal cost increase that will allow for greater flexibility for future.

Cat6 allows for Greater distances of PoE (power over ethernet), which is the main benefit of running cat6. A lot of cool in home gadgets are using PoE and with cat5e you, generally, can only go about 30ft. With cat6 I have been able to get over 100ft.

As for which type you should get. UTP Solid is what I prefer. There are differences but Solid is generally best.

Also, make sure the cat6 has the plastic Insulator/separator inside. It allows for better control of the twist, less interference and cross talk, and it is overall a better grade of cable.

[Mibz]

You can EASILY run 15.7W of PoE over >100ft lengths of Cat5e.
Solid is fine for in-wall/plenum cabling as long as there isn't a lot of bending. Using solid for patch cables would be ridiculous.
Cat6 has its own standards for crosstalk and noise regardless of the little plastic bit inside. If it's a Cat6 cable then you're guaranteed that standard and saying that the plastic bit inside is what makes a cable better or worse than another is also ridiculous.

[RecoilS14]

Originally posted by Mibz
You can EASILY run 15.7W of PoE over >100ft lengths of Cat5e.
Solid is fine for in-wall/plenum cabling as long as there isn't a lot of bending. Using solid for patch cables would be ridiculous.
Cat6 has its own standards for crosstalk and noise regardless of the little plastic bit inside. If it's a Cat6 cable then you're guaranteed that standard and saying that the plastic bit inside is what makes a cable better or worse than another is also ridiculous.

While I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying, especially with the patch cable point, there are some things to consider.

Not all devices are equal when it comes to PoE. In Wall iPad docks and other home automation products all have different ways of doing things and some allow for greater distances than others. With cat6, you are able to extend the range of the PoE on these devices.

The little plastic insulator does more than you would think. Besides insulting the wires, it gives the cable greater strength and allows for better running of retro fit wiring jobs. The quality of the plastic used for the shielding and jacket are usually of better quality and resist tearing better.
Also, the quality of the plastic used to shield the actual pairs inside is usually of better quality and thicker.

All of that makes for a better, stronger cable that allows for better in home use.

Will a shitty cat6 cable give the same bandwidth and ability of a good cat6 cable? of course. Does the shitty cat6 cable perform longer and insulate from interference better and is it as strong? Hell no.

Performance of a cable can still be hindered by interference. Homes generate a ton of EMI, especially the older homes most of us live in. If I'm running a network for automation from scratch when the house is just finished being framed. I can get the most of a cable because the electrical doesn't interfere and I can usually get more distance out of my PoE runs and can use Cat5e no prob. There are also a lot of time that my run from the head end is over 100ft long, so cat6 is necessary.

Retrofit jobs usually aren't as lucky as the houses are older and electrical has been retrofitted this way and that way causing a run to have to share the same space as electrical. I have a better chance of getting distance and integrity using cat6.

So yes, I can say that the cable is better and I can say that Cat6 > Cat5e for a home network, especially for a retrofit job like the OP is doing.

A network in your home should be run as good as your electrical wiring. Cut corners and do it badly and cheap, you are going to pay the price later on down the road when you have to do it again because you want to add this or that.

Run Cat6 to any location you can think that might end up needing a network connection, this includes your kitchen. You don't have to plate it out and have something showing on your wall. Just leave a 5 - 10ft coil in the stud space and your good to go in the future. Its cheap cable and retrofitting is a pain the ass.


Wireless will never be as good as a solid connection.

[Mibz]

Not all devices are equal when it comes to PoE. In Wall iPad docks and other home automation products all have different ways of doing things and some allow for greater distances than others.

Again, there are standards at play here. 802.3af was designed with Cat5 in mind so that it's guaranteed to work at Cat5's rated distances. If you're not getting more than 30 ft of PoE then either the device is PoE+, it isn't certified as PoE or, more likely, you've got a bad cable.

As for the rest, no arguments here, you just made it sound like he was making a bad purchase if he didn't ensure the plastic bit was in his cable when, let's be honest, it will make next to no noticeable difference. Cat5 and 5e runs have lasted for years and years without it and people are more likely to move to a new home before their cabling ever starts wearing out. Keep in mind I'm not arguing against Cat6, I think you'd be silly to put anything less into a new home these days, but "making sure you get the plastic bit" is unnecessary minutiae.